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Houston’s own Wayne Wilson stars in and helped create Cirque du Soleil’s new ’Songblazers’ show.
Wayne Wilson, who’s been performing in Cirque presentations for more than 20 years — and sometimes also helping create the shows behind the scenes — will be front and center, performing for a hometown crowd for the very first time. “I don’t think I have the words to express how excited I am,” says the longtime performing artist, who grew up in Houston’s North Shore area, graduated from HSPVA with high honors and was soon tapped for his first Cirque role as a college student in Minneapolis.
He says his friends and family have traveled the world to see him work — going even as far away as China. “But the first time to be a home? It feels full circle,” he says. “Something just feels really right about where I am with my career.”
Per his usual role, the now Las Vegas-based Wilson, 41, plays a clown in the new show. He’s been fascinated with physical comedy since he was a kid watching I Love Lucy and The Little Rascals reruns. Of course, at Cirque, it’s a special kind of clowning. “I don’t even wear a nose. It’s a state of being. It’s a state of reflecting the audience back to them, so they recognize and empathize with the clown onstage.
“I love doing theater, and I love doing plays,” he adds. “But with these shows, you really get to put a piece of yourself within the work unlike any other medium.”
Wilson also works in the wings, helping to develop shows like Songblazer as associate show director and comedic concept designer. “I just love the creation of these shows,” he says. “Cirque du Soleil is a beacon for creativity. If you can dream it, they have the tools and resources to help you build it.
“In one show, I wanted to have a pogo stick — 15 feet in the air,” he recalls, still a bit amazed. “And before I knew it, they built a harness and I’m on a winch jumping up and down.”
Songblazers may have the audience jumping around, too. Especially country fans. “It’s a love letter to country music,” says Wilson.
The 24th Cirque du Soleil presentation in Houston will go up at Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre for 16 performances, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 11. It boasts a live soundtrack with new music as well as dozens of classic songs from the genre going back generations. “As the crowd grooves to beloved country tunes, they will be entranced by the breathtaking skills of Cirque du Soleil artists, honoring the rich tradition of country music while embracing its evolving spirit,” gushes a Cirque rep. Universal Music Group Nashville presents the show, along with Cirque.
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done,” says Wilson, “and I proud of the family I’ve built throughout the years. And I really can’t wait to bring all of them to my mother’s house.”
Indeed, he says his mom, now in Humble, will host a large barbecue for family, neighbors and her son’s Cirque pals. “I think I’m going to rent a van and bring whoever wants to come down to ol’ Sheila’s!”
Houston’s own Wayne Wilson
Besides lots of new and classic music, ’Songblazers’ will feature 'breathtaking acrobatics, awe-inspiring aerial acts and displays of extraordinary strength,’ says a show rep.
Cirque du Soleil’s new country-themed show will be presented at Smart Financial Center in Sugar Land.
’Songblazers’ will open Aug. 1 and run through Aug. 11.
Cirque’s ’Songblazers’ is described as ‘a love letter to country music.’
Rachel Gardner with her flower necklaces and, at left, Calla Lilly necklace
Gardner appeared in our 2019 photo essay A Day in the Life of the Arts. The image of Gardner, pregnant and hard at work late at night in her garage studio, surrounded by ghostly papier-mâché sculptures of forest animals and antlered children, encapsulated the subject matter Gardner explores in her art and the real-life demands of maintaining a practice while holding down a teaching job and raising a family.
Gardner began mounting her sculptures to a “wall of life” in her home studio in 2022, including small sculptures of bugs, birds and wildflowers shaped out of polymer clay, baked in the kitchen oven, and then painted and coated with resin. One day, Gardner created a tulip, her favorite flower, and decided she’d like to wear it out in public as a necklace. People were intrigued and asked her about the piece.
“This is only a glimpse of what I’ve got going on in my studio,” says Gardner of that first tulip. “I’ve got hundreds of wildflowers on the wall.” The resulting wearable pieces are organic, painterly, surprisingly sturdy, and a welcome alternative to store-bought manufactured jewelry.
“I’m really enjoying pooling from this wall of life,” says Gardner of what has become a creative wellspring. “My kids have gotten used to seeing birds, bugs and flowers in the oven!”
Gardner and members of Foltz’s staff will be wearing some of her sculptures at this Saturday’s opening. Wisitors will have to opportunity to try them on as well.
Endless Summer runs July 27-Aug 25 and includes works by Mallory Agerton, Saran Alderson, Erika Alonso, Tom Bandage, Lotus Bermudez, Colleen Blackard, DUAL, E. Dan Klepper, Ibsen Espada, J. Antonio Farfan, Brendan Flores, Rachel Gardner, Garrett Griffins, Peter Healy, Otis Huband, Sarah Fisher, Jonathan Paul Jackson, Sirena LaBurn, Melinda Laszczynski, Ambrosia Max, Jacob Melgren, Matt Messinger, Susu Meyer, Kate Mulholland, Charlotte Seifert, Ben Sklar, Robin Utterback and Doug Welsh.
Gardner was featured in CityBook’s “A Day in the Life of the Arts” photo essay in 2019. (photo by Jhane Hoang)
Gardner’s wearable art will be featured in new art show.